Play Gay
by versusthequeer
Summary: Pining over your best friend can be difficult, especially when you're in denial. Being cast to 'play gay' with said best friend in a short film can be even more complicated. What could possibly happen when you put the two together? Disaster… Right? Or maybe…
1. I: The Script

**A/N:** Just had this short thought spark into my mind. I'm hoping it'll become something, seeing as I've pretty much abandoned previous stories (which I'm still sorry about). But it'd be nice to update on something more than just _**Mostly Likely To**_. So let me know your thoughts!

* * *

Chloe hums a small tune as she reads over the script that Stacie had given her four days prior. When the tall brunette came to Chloe asking if she could take part in a short film about two best friends, Chloe was more than happy to agree. Especially when she found out that Beca was cast as the best friend because in all actuality, Chloe considered Beca to be her best friend.

The two had become super close the last four years that they had attended Barden University. Whenever either one had boy problems, they'd stay up all night talking pros and cons while stuffing their face with Oreos and ice cream. When one of them failed a test, the other was at their door with chocolate and flowers. And now, they were freshly graduated and roommates. It was, as Chloe liked to think of it, a match made in heaven. Sure, she was also close to Aubrey and Stacie, but they were a couple and Chloe always felt like a third wheel around them. It's not that she meant to, but it just sort of happened.

She flips through the pages of the script, identifying with the character that she was playing. In order for her to nail it, she knew she had to wear the skin, become the character, transform her entirety to capture the essence of a fictional being. She had done it plenty of times, but no role was as big as this one.

Being a stage actor and being a film actress are two completely different concepts. In stage acting, you get one shot and one shot only. There are no extra takes, you get what you get. Chloe knows this, after multiple years of musical theatre. But being filmed, having that camera record your every emotion means you have to believe it. It's different when you're on stage and you're relatively far away from the audience. Your facial expressions and emotions aren't as important. They're still important, but when you have a camera that is focused on your face, you'd better have a believable face or the entire shot is ruined.

Chloe skims the script, eyes flickering back and forth as she quietly reads every word that is printed on white paper. So far, she loves the concept. A story about two best friends, one dealing with her sexuality and her feelings for her best friend, and the other being a support system. It really spoke to her. Chloe was big into accepting people for who they were and never batting an eye or turning someone away because of that.

She'd like to think of herself as open minded and she's starting to think maybe that's why Stacie and Aubrey came to her with this.

Chloe smiles her extremely infectious smile as she drags her index finger across the page, letting the lines soak into her mind. She flips the page and the words of action stick out to her like a sore thumb.

 **-Anna and Brittany kiss-**

It was a simple enough action, but it had Chloe's mind buzzing. Would she have to actually kiss Beca, her best friend? Not that she had any problem with it because once again, Beca was her best friend. But could she even play gay? Did she even know how? Could they pull it off as believable?

How did Beca feel about this?

So many questions and zero answers left Chloe in a daze. Sure, she could easily kiss Beca, who couldn't? Chloe wouldn't be the first to admit that Beca was attractive. But they never had and Chloe wasn't sure whether or not they'd be convincing enough.

She makes a mental note to ask Staubrey, as she dubbed Stacie and Aubrey when they started dating, about this later.

* * *

"Dude, you want me to kiss her?" Beca's mouth is agape and her mind is swirling with a plethora of thoughts.

"Oh, come on, Bec! It's not that bad. You're freaking out over nothing."

But Aubrey's wrong, so very wrong. Beca had been secretly pining over Chloe for years. Sure, it wasn't ideal, especially when three of those years were spent in a committed relationship with Jesse, but she couldn't help herself. Beca wouldn't consider herself gay, or even bisexual, for that matter. Chloe was the only girl who had ever captured Beca's attention in a way that a fisherman catches a fish. There was something so alluring about the redhead, and Beca being the dumb fish she is, caught herself eyeing the lure more than once.

Not that Beca would ever tell Chloe, oh no. That'd be a disaster. Because despite all of the shameless, harmless flirting, Chloe was straight as far as Beca was concerned. She did date that dude Tom for like five years. There'd be no way in hell that Chloe would go for someone like Beca anyway.

Beca couldn't get a grasp on her own particular feelings for Chloe in the first place. Maybe it was just a stupid crush. Beca had no fucking clue and the fact that she had to play gay with her best friend sent shockwaves through her body.

"Helllloooo? Earth to Beca?" Aubrey's waving her hand in front of Beca's zoned out eyes.

"What? Sorry."

"Beca, seriously. It's not that big of a deal. Brittany finally figures out that she has feelings for her gay BFF and they kiss! It's just a kiss!" Beca's eyes narrow and Aubrey rolls her own. "Come on, please?"

"Fine." The one word is huffed out of the disgruntled brunette's mouth as she scoffs. Aubrey squeals in excitement and walks out of the room saying something about telling Stacie or something. Beca's not too sure. She's too far into her own thoughts to comprehend words right now.

A deep, sharp inhale is draw in through Beca's mouth as she drops the script on her desk. She grips the corner, feeling her body grow light as she imagines the scene that could potentially change her life forever. Kissing Chloe, even if it was for a film, caused her to lose all sense of coherence. Her mind was jumbled and she could feel it trying to put itself back together like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. Beca was probably overthinking this, but at the same time, she knew she wasn't. And she was hoping, oh God how she was hoping, that this wouldn't screw everything up.

* * *

Beca makes it back to her apartment relatively late after spending her entire night in the studio that her father had purchased for her. When Beca had ultimately told Chloe that she in fact was not leaving for Los Angeles after graduation, the redhead immediately went to talk to Beca's father. She had asked that he help Beca pursue her dream as a music producer no matter the cost, and surprisingly, he listened to her. Lance Mitchell gave Beca a small studio as a graduation present and a 'thank you' for not running off to LA and completing college, much to his surprise.

Beca had been ecstatic about the studio, wondering how he even knew that she still wanted to produce music. It wasn't until a few weeks later when she was moving in with Chloe that Chloe had confessed she had told Beca's father about the studio and Beca's dream of still wanting to be a music producer. If Beca had a hard time keeping her emotions for her roommate in check before, one could only imagine the confliction inside of her after Chloe's admission.

Which is why this short film was freaking her out as much as it was. It's not that Beca didn't think she could pull it off, but she didn't think she could pull it off without her feelings surfacing and ultimately, probably ruining her friendship with Chloe. Beca had been great at detaching herself from the romantic gestures that Chloe does for her, writing them off as strictly platonic things that a best friend does for a best friend. Whether it was a soft kiss on the cheek, holding hands while they walk down the street or the way Chloe can convince Beca to snuggle while they watch Netflix; Beca had chalked it up to be things that friends do.

(Except it's not.)

So, when Beca finds Chloe in the living room on the couch, glasses perched up on her nose, reading the script that Aubrey and Stacie had written, she can't help but feel the nervousness settle in the pits of her stomach. Beca sets her keys down on the kitchen table and clears her throat, gaining Chloe's attention.

"Hey." Beca presses her lips together as Chloe looks up, removing the glasses from her face.

"Hey, Becs. How was the studio?" Chloe sets down the script and pats the spot on the couch next to her. Beca sits down and rests her head on Chloe's shoulder.

"Long. I accidentally deleted an entire track, so I had to re-write it." Beca shrugs as her eyes flicker over to the script on the coffee table. "Have you read it all, yet?"

"I- uh… yeah." Chloe replies just above a whisper. "We don't have to do it if you're like… uncomfortable with it."

Beca feels her heart fall at Chloe's words. _**Of course**_ Beca had her reservations about the film, not that Chloe knew about them, but Beca didn't want to let Aubrey or Stacie down. And maybe, just maybe, kissing Chloe would help her realize that her feelings for Chloe were just a confusion of gratitude for all that Chloe's helped her through. Yeah, she was going to go with that.

"I'm cool with it." Beca says confidently. "Are you?"

"Yeah, totes!" Chloe exclaims excitedly, happy to hear that a certain part of the script hadn't scared her best friend away. "I think we'll be totally great! I mean, we're already best friends."

 _And I already have feelings for you_. Beca wants to say, but she bites her tongue. "Yeah, Chlo. We'll be awesome."


	2. The Lie

**A/N:** Well, since my other story doesn't have TOO many Bechloe moments, I figured I'd update this one so you could get your fix. I mean kind of.

* * *

Beca wakes up to the sound of her alarm blaring. Groaning loudly, she grabs her phone and swipes the screen, turning the alarm off. She flips back over, nuzzling her face in her pillow, closing her eyes again as she tries to fall back asleep. Her plans are short lived, however, when she hears Chloe knocking loudly on her door.

"Bec! It's time to get up! I know you're partially awake because I heard your alarm go off." Beca hears Chloe's voice call out from behind her bedroom door. "Beca?"

The door swings open and Chloe is immediately on her bed, the mattress dipping as she scoots closer to the small brunette.

"Beca, wake up! Aubrey called and she wants us on set today." Chloe says, poking Beca's back.

"Tell her to suck my non-existent dick." Beca mumbles as she pulls the pillow closer to her face, earning a laugh from Chloe.

"Okaaaaay!" Chloe sing-songs. "Stay in bed and I'll let Aubrey drag you out by your legs while you plead for me to get her to stop."

Beca's eyes shoot open, knowing all too well what Chloe was referring to. It was her sophomore year and Aubrey was so mad that Beca tried to sleep in before National's that she legitimately grabbed Beca's legs and dragged her out of bed. Beca remembers the pain of hitting the floor of the hotel room and knows she'd rather not relive the feeling.

Beca finally lifts her head from the pillow, flipping over to look at Chloe who was sitting with her legs tucked under her, knees now digging uncomfortable into Beca's thighs. "I'm awake."

"But you're not up! So up! Get out of bed and get ready! We have a table reading today." Chloe exclaims as she hops off of Beca's bed.

Beca pushes herself out of bed, yawning and stretching before glancing at Chloe who was looking at her with a silly face. "What?"

"You're a hot mess, Bec." Chloe gestures to Beca's major bed head, causing Beca to walk over to her full length mirror and groan.

"Ugh. This is so not cool."

"It's kind of cute." Chloe shrugs her shoulders, smile plastered on her face as she starts to skip out of the room. "We leave in ten!"

* * *

Beca hated her friends. Okay, so no, she really didn't hate her friends, just the predicaments they got her into. Beca, Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey were currently at the studio that the couple had rented out for the indoor parts of the film. They had gone through a table reading, much to Beca's dismay, and now they were walking the half built set, trying to gain a sense for execution of certain scenes.

Beca's heart almost stopped when they presented the set for the kiss; a red couch sitting in a room. Beca pictured herself on that couch, kissing her best friend, and she had to stop herself before her heart beat loud enough for the rest of the crew to hear.

"Okay, so this is the set for the kiss. It's not done yet, we wanted to add color to the walls. How does everyone feel about a soft yellow?" Aubrey asks.

"Why do you care what we think?" Beca quips back, turning into her snarky self once more.

"You're going to be spending a lot of time here and contrary to your beliefs, Mitchell, I want you to be comfortable."

"I think yellow would be perfect. Wouldn't you, Bec? It's a happy color and this is a happy moment for the characters." Chloe beams and Beca loses it again. Because here was Chloe, melting her inside as she had done for the last four years. And Beca couldn't say no to Chloe, no matter how hard she tried.

"Yeah, sure." Beca says, trying to play it of coolly while her heart rate increases at the happy squeal that leaves Chloe's lips.

"Perfect, it's settled then. Why don't we take a break and then do like a rehearsal in a couple of hours?"

"Thank god." Beca mutters as the group heads back into the conference room.

Beca and Chloe take a seat next to each other, flipping over their scripts and making notes while Aubrey and Stacie agreed to go get food for them.

* * *

"Do you think it'll work?" Aubrey asks as they get into the car and make their way to the pizza shop.

"I'm hoping so." Stacie chuckles. "Beca's head is so far up her ass that she doesn't even realize that Chloe has it bad for her, too. Come to think of it, I don't even think Chloe realizes it."

"Is it bad that we have ulterior motives?"

"No." Stacie smiles, leaning over to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek. "We're just helping two people who love each other realize that they love each other. I can't take the sexual tension anymore."

* * *

Beca taps her pen against the script furiously as she tries to get the thought of having to eventually kiss Chloe out of her head. It's not that Beca wouldn't mind kissing Chloe at all, it's that she knows what will surface when she does and she doesn't know if she can handle the rejection. It was never Beca's intentions to grow feelings for Chloe, but how could she not? Chloe was all things good in the world. When Jesse broke up with her, Chloe stayed in Beca's room all night, holding her and comforting her. She would wipe away Beca's tears when she cried, and told her that Jesse was an asshole and she deserves so much better.

And Beca wholeheartedly believed that. She believed Chloe so much that she started thinking that Chloe was the better she deserved and that better was only a stone's throw away from her bedroom door.

But Beca knew that she could never have what she wanted with Chloe. Chloe was an obvious flirt, but that was her personality. There was no way in hell that she had actual, legitimate feelings for Beca. No way.

(Right?)

"Hey, Bec?"

"Yeah, Chloe?"

"Should we like maybe practice?" Chloe chews on her lower lip nervously. "Like, I want this performance to be as believable as possible."

"Uh- sure. Where do you want to start?"

"The kiss." Chloe says nonchalantly causing Beca's eyes to widen.

"Say what now?"

"Well, like... We have to be comfortable with it. So, why don't we like test it out? Practice makes perfect."

Beca's jigsaw puzzle of a mind had officially been taken apart and scattered around her brain. She didn't know what to say or what to do.

"We- uh- you know- I-." Beca stutters out as she tries to keep herself together.

"Why are you acting funny?" Chloe asks, obliviously. "It's just a kiss, Becs."

 _A kiss that could change everything_ , Beca thinks as she slowly regains her composure.

"You're right." Beca tries to say as convincingly possible, though she's not sure if she's trying to convince herself or Chloe mroe. "Actors do it all the time."

"Exactly!" Chloe smiles as she turns to face Beca. "Okay, so like... Kiss me."

"Like now?"

"Yeah, now."

"But your character kisses mine." Beca tries to reason, but to no avail.

"Yeah, but I'm not the one acting like it's a big deal. So, if you take the lead, maybe you'll feel more comfortable." Chloe explains.

"Right. Okay- so like- uhm." Beca pauses. "I'm going to kiss you, I guess."

"Don't guess, just do it."

"Right."

Beca leans forwards and kisses Chloe on the lips, immediately pulling back with an unsure smile on her face.

"What was that?" Chloe asked, her eyebrow arched.

"A kiss."

"I'm not your grandmother, Beca. That was hardly a kiss."

Beca groans loudly. "I kissed you, dude."

"It wasn't believable. We need to be believable." Chloe states sternly. "Again."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Now kiss me like Anna would kiss Brittany." Chloe gestures to the script.

A sigh leaves Beca as she nervously leans forward, her lips shaking as they inch closer to Chloe's. She draws in a deep breath, maybe hoping that holding her breath would allow her to pass out before she has to do the one thing that could change everything; really kiss Chloe. Chloe's eye close when their lips graze and Beca has to refrain from freaking out as she presses her lips tightly against her best friends.

Warm. That's how Beca would describe the feeling of Chloe's lips against hers. They weren't like Jesse's lips at all. No, Chloe had really soft lips and Beca could taste a hint of that Vanilla Mint lip balm Chloe is always putting on. She inhales sharply through her nose, getting a whiff of Chloe's shampoo before holding her eyes shut as tightly as possible. The pit of her stomach felt so warm and Beca knew she was in deep shit. She goes to pull away, but Chloe's hand brushes against her cheek before pulling her closer.

And closer Beca gets, as close as possible without her body pressing against Chloe's. Beca can feel Chloe's tongue swipe across her lower lip, and she loses all sense of coherence. She needs to stop it, she needs to pull away before doing something she regrets. But Chloe's egging her on and Beca can feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest. And then it breaks, it breaks at the realization that Chloe wasn't kissing her for real, that it was just an act to better their acting chemistry.

Beca hurriedly pulls away, trying not to pant loudly as Chloe smiles at her goofily.

"That was better." Chloe grins. "See? It wasn't that bad."

"Yeah. It was nothing." Beca flat out lies.

And that lie couldn't have fooled anyone. Except for the extremely oblivious redhead in front of Beca.


End file.
